Fugitive puts 150,000 at
UH at risk for ID theft

The search for a federal fugitive has prompted University of Hawaii officials to urge about 150,000 students, faculty, staff and library patrons at any of the 10 UH campuses between 1999 and 2003 to take precautions against identity theft.

The fugitive, Deborah Jenkins, is suspected of identity theft in a case unrelated to her employment as a student worker at the UH-Manoa library system in 2003. But she had access to the university's database, which included Social Security numbers, addresses and phone numbers for more than 150,000 students.

"We have an individual who was indicted on bank fraud stemming from ID theft," said David Lassner, UH chief information officer. "We're doing what we think is the right thing to do, to get the word out."

Lassner urged people potentially affected to obtain and review their credit reports and monitor personal bank and credit accounts for unusual activity.

Deborah Jenkins and her husband, Paul Jenkins, both former students, were indicted in October in Honolulu for allegedly obtaining student loans using other people's Social Security numbers and birth dates.

Paul Jenkins was arrested in February in Florida and pleaded guilty last month. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September.

Deborah Jenkins is still at large.

Getting credit reports Under federal law, each of the three credit reporting agencies -- Equifax, TransUnion and Experian -- is required to provide one free copy of your credit report each year. To get your copies from all three agencies, you can call a central information number at 877-322-8228 or go online at www.annualcreditreport.com. When you receive your credit reports, review them carefully. Look for these indicators of possible fraudulent activity: » Unfamiliar accounts, especially ones that have been newly opened. » Unauthorized charges to existing accounts. » Addresses that you have not lived at. If there are any irregularities in any of your information, you should immediately check with the financial institution involved.

According to his plea agreement, Paul Jenkins and members of his family obtained more than $48,000 in student loans using fraudulent information from August 2001 through 2002.

Lassner said there is no evidence that Jenkins used information gathered at the library or through the library.

However, "investigators gave us additional information that leads us to believe there may be people who are at particular risk," Lassner said.

He said about 20 people connected with the university are being contacted to warn them about the risk of identity theft.

Lassner said the university was notified about the potential security breach about two weeks ago and has now put up a Web site -- www.hawaii.edu/idalert -- with information on protecting oneself from identity theft.

Lassner said since Deborah Jenkins worked at the university, UH has changed procedures so that student and staff identification numbers are no longer Social Security numbers. The use of Social Security numbers is also being phased out in nonessential areas.

Lassner said he is still working with the UH-Manoa library system to limit access to sensitive information.

"Some people will always have access to personal information because it's part of their job," he said.

As an example, Lassner noted that the federal government requires Social Security numbers for financial aid.